A 'California Accent' Exists: Do You Think You Have an Accent?

by AdriHead Posted 2012/09/20 19:00:00

Related Topics: Accents, California, California Accent

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	Yes	457 votes	65%
	No	244 votes	35%

A California accent? Like, no way, dude. You can't be serious. Though Californians -- and other West Coasters -- often pride themselves in thinking that they are free of accents and speak in the purest linguistic form, a new study is here to tell us that that's all a load of crock. The California accent is alive and well!

Researchers found that California is actually home to a very distinct dialect and accent. Some examples? "Black" sounds like "block," "pen" sounds like "pin," and in general the Californian "a" is very nasally. So... whether or not you're from California, we've got to ask: Do you think you have an accent when you speak?

JEZEBEL.COM reports:
A team of researchers is canvassing California to try and nail down some of the linguistic peculiarities native to its various regions. Conventional wisdom holds that, aside from garish movie caricatures like Spicoli and Cher Horowitz, the English spoken on the west coast is clean, accentless, and standard.

spicoli cher horowitz english spoken west coast clean accentless standard

+27

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Tunnel Vision 2012/09/23 00:14:16

Yes

+6
Everyone has an accent depending on who is listening.

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More polls by AdriHead

raschell97 2013/05/01 22:41:45

Yes

very noticeable west Texas twangy accent

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The Hopeless Writer Chick 2012/09/28 21:15:25

Yes

I have an extremely noticeable Philadelphia accent, which, due to the University of Pennsylvania being the center of linguistic research, is the most studied North American accent. "Sad" and "mad" don't rhyme when I say them, the words "caught" and "cot" are not homophones, and most notably, "water" is pronounce "wood-er".

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Kaye 2012/09/26 16:35:40

Yes

A checker in a Denver grocery store ask me 3 times to repeat what I was looking for.He was teasing me,he heard me the 1st time.He said he just liked to hear me talk.then he said"Texas right"?I said yes.

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Libertys Martyr 2012/09/25 05:01:35

No

I don't say block on pin instead of black and pen. That's all I can base my answer on. There is different slang whether your from norcal or socal but that doesn't exactly count as an "accent" it's just a choice of words...

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HillaryLover 2012/09/25 04:49:22

Yes

In California we say, "get" as similar to jet, instead of "git" as in fit. Pass that on to Michelle Obama and sport jocks.

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Kaye to Hillary... 2012/09/26 16:38:26

I sometimes say it both ways.

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Invader_Ellie_Slamacow 2012/09/25 00:47:43

No

whaddabout Oregonians...?? and I have never known a Californian who talks like that..?

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Cody Puniak 2012/09/24 20:18:08

Yes

I have a Pittsburghese accent :)

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halfbreed 2012/09/24 17:48:49

Yes

A Southern one

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NickieSF 2012/09/24 17:14:37

Yes

When I speak English, I speak with a Norwegian accent.
When I speak Norwegian, I speak with a mix of Northern, Middle and Western Norwegian dialects (accents).

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Cottonmouth 2012/09/24 16:35:13

Yes

+2
Doesn't everyone technically have an accent?

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missravenx 2012/09/24 15:56:04

No

I'm from southern California.

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Unintended 2012/09/24 14:04:10

Yes

+1

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David (oYo) 2012/09/24 09:37:30

Yes

It's cross between a south of England middle class accent and a London accent, like an educated Michael Caine or Jude Law.

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El Prez 2012/09/24 09:16:46

Yes

It is different north to south and only a few words gives away the southern accent. San Francisco is a little New Yorkish. The rest is country!!

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katywon 2012/09/24 07:13:48

Yes

CA. is a bland accent with a touch of Oklahoma. It's a blend of surfer and East Coast plus Oklahoma and Texas.

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Depsycho 2012/09/24 04:31:03

Yes

Naturally you won't notice your own accent. We Americans know Canadians have different accents, but also, there are different accents in America: Southern Drawl, New Yorker, and the thankfully dying "Valley Girl" speak.

Absolutely everyone has a certain accent. We never really realize it though unless we analyze it well.

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David (... to Depsycho 2012/09/24 09:42:23

The Canadian accent is not much different. Because of massive Scottish immigration in the 19th century they tend to say aboot (about) and oot (out). That's how you tell a Canadian.

How do I know? Because I've listened to dozens of racing commentaries from Woodbine, Toronto and from most US racetracks. The accents are almost identical.

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Black-Indian Girl 2012/09/24 02:51:56

Yes

Everyone has an accent... unless you are mute.

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MarcusRP 2012/09/24 02:39:04

Yes

You betcha. I have a huge Minnesoootan accent.

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Nameless 2012/09/24 02:33:48

No

I grew up in New Hampshire and when I went to college in another state about 10 hours away, I was picked on incessantly for my accent. I now only find myself using it when I head home. I have traveled all over and I've been told over and over, again, that I have no accent. I've read a lot about syntax and various phrases that are used in the US - but no one has caught me, yet! Oh, and, yes... when I travel I can sound Canadian if I wish, Ay!

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DemonChild 2012/09/24 02:18:42

Yes

In Utah you can't go get your melk without getting the mell on your way to the mou'ain

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Kaye to DemonChild 2012/09/26 16:41:20

I like this one

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Larre 2012/09/24 01:37:17

Yes

+1
Will always have this southern accent y'all :-)

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Jada_Ringo 2012/09/24 01:23:42

Yes

+1
Everyone has an accent.

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ellencalvo 2012/09/24 01:20:03 (edited)

Yes

Prolly a light mid-Jersey accent ( I live very close to Staten Island)

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Arse-Whole 2012/09/24 00:57:30

Yes

+1
Actually a really obnoxious one when I'm drunk. The long twangy vowels just spill out after a 12 pack.

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catt 2012/09/24 00:57:07

Yes

Londen accent!! <3

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strawberry 2012/09/24 00:50:57

Yes

I have lived in CA 11 years but still have a New York accent, though did pick up a Texas accent while living in Houston in mid 1980's.

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blackrings70 2012/09/23 23:58:56

Yes

Northern!!

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Mamaknows 2012/09/23 22:20:48

No

Accents...are a fading thing:( With TV and the internet places loose their local flavor...now days it's all copycat generic in accents/fashion/ideas. Take a walk through any school all you will see is kids trying desperatly to be different by dressing the same.
It's sad. Another 20years and we'll all be barbie doll hollywood clones. It's why we do not have tv in the house.

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Arse-Whole to Mamaknows 2012/09/24 01:00:00

+1
You just described California. not the rest of the country.

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Mamaknows to Arse-Whole 2012/09/24 16:11:14

Yes BUT I have met more then a few people and been a lot of places in the west and it's all getting pretty generic:(

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Skylaris Alanis 2012/09/23 21:04:07

Yes

People tell me I have a slight southern twang, since I'm from the Mid-Atlantic region haha.

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HiYa 2012/09/23 17:44:16

No

No one knows where I am from based on my dialect.

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john brenni 2012/09/23 16:44:01

Yes

yes. my brother moved from new york to visalia, california in 1995 and now has a california accent. i am in california at the moment and have a New York accent. people dont realize they have an accent till they aren't around those who sound like them.

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Rob 2012/09/23 16:15:50

No

Ha, this is hilarious and so true. Being a mid-westerner, I have always noticed their accent. And I'd also bet mid-westerners speak the purest form of American English. For one thing, most TV show actors and radio and TV news personnel sound just like us.

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ellencalvo to Rob 2012/09/24 01:22:43

Studies show that the Midwestern accent is the most pleasant to most people

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ssmithix 2012/09/23 16:05:49

No

I've been told I have a drawl even though I'm from a big city west of the Mississippi and have never lived in the south. Not sure what that's all about but I've listened to my voice on playback and I disagree.

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Kaye to ssmithix 2012/09/26 16:45:06

+1
I listened to my voice played back too.I am really not near as goofy as I sound.

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